Most-Read Stories of 2016: Goats and Gluttony

Luckily, and thanks the efforts of police and residents, crime was not overall a huge story in JP in 2016. However, isolated violence did continue this past year. Jeffrey Kelly, 28, was killed outside the South Huntington 7-Eleven in August. Here’s our most recent follow-up, as the DA’s case against Amos Carrasquillo, also 28, moves through the court system.

Real estate is always big news in JP. Our most-read real estate story of 2016 concerned the Hyde Square building that includes the Brendan Behan being floated for sale. We searched public records on Monday and can’t find evidence a sale has taken place yet.

One might think a story about some else’s elderly cat dying wouldn’t be a big news story. But the death of Ivy, who lived at Ivy Insurance on South Street, touched something in the neighborhood’s heart. We’re happy to have also reported the follow-up news that there’s a new Ivy — Sikuwar.

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You know those Little Free Libraries around Jamaica Plain, like the one at the corner of South and Bardwell streets near Curtis Hall? Well, a JP resident wrote to Jamaica Plain News wondering if someone is taking books from a local Little Free Library to sell them.

Longtime Jamaica Plain resident Andrew Haines contacted the Arnold Arboretum to see if they had an art exhibition planned to capture the changing Forest Hills area. They liked the idea so much they invited Haines to create his own exhibit.

One of the best-known properties in Jamaica Plain is on the market. The multi-family property at 378 Centre St., which has The Brendan Behan Pub, was put up for sale in early January, according to a listing by Coldwell Banker.

City Hall went against the recommendation of the JP Neighborhood Council, an elected advisory group, to approve variances for a controversial development at the corner of Washington and Green. Here is the text of the May 4 letter from the JPNC to the ZBA:
Christine Araujo, Chair
Board of Appeal 1010 Massachusetts Ave.,
4th Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02118
Re: 211 Green Street, Ward 11, BOA675434
Dear Ms. Araujo:
At the April 2017 meeting of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Council, held Tuesday, April 25, the Council members voted 9-3-0 to request the Board of Appeal to DENY ALL EIGHT VARIANCES SOUGHT FOR THIS PROJECT because:
1.